newbie intro and questions

[wanderseek]

Hi! We're Becky and Nolan from east central Indiana. We've gone a little berzerk and acquired 35 adolescent? chicks in the past week. 22 Black Australorps, 4 RIRs, 3 RIWs, and 6 Booted Bantams. With the Australorps, the tag on their bin said they are "sex-linked, straight run." I've found conflicting information as to what those two phrases mean. We're sorta in a pre-panic state because we don't want roosters at this point as we don't really have the room for more babies, and we don't want to annoy the neighbors. (Trying to find a new place to move to, but until then.....ya know.) Also, how can I determine for sure whether my birds are male or female? Does a larger comb automatically mean male? Please help, or send me a link that answers these questions which I'm sure get asked quite a bit. Thank you!!

 

[Domestic_goddess]

Depending on age....it may become obvious! With straight run your are bound to get a few more roos then you were planning on. I have a 2 week old RIR, and it's obvious allready that he's a boy! I would do your research on sexing chicks, good luck!

 

[Ehigh57]

Hello from GA!

 

[Mama&thePeeps]

Welcome! It's really hard to tell this early who's who. Read more on other parts of this forum for more help.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

and

from Ohio. So glad you joined. When you order something that is a straight run, the chicks were not sexed so you are gambling on what you get. If you didn't want roos, you should have ordered pullets only. You will have to wait to see what you get. Maybe you will get lucky and get more pullets than cockerals.

 

[Backyard Hencam]

I'm a little confused on the sex-link straight run because if these are sex-link chicks you should be able to tell if they are pullets or roos by their coloring. Perhaps a little research would help you on this issue.

When they are about five weeks old, they begin to have distinctive gender differences. Someone gave this to me when I had questions. Hope it helps and best of luck!

According to UC Davis Veterinary Care Program.
2. Physical Characteristics (4-6 weeks of age)
a. Comb – The cockerels comb is medium size and pinkish, the pullets is small and yellowish.
b. Legs – The cockerel’s legs are sturdy and long, the pullets are finer and shorter.
c. Tail – The cockerel’s tail is stumpy and curved, the pullets is longer and straight.
d. Back – The cockerel has a thin line of stub feathers down the center of his back, the pullet has more advanced feathering along the center of her back.
e. Side of neck, flank and crop – The feathering in the cockerel in these areas is poorly advanced, the pullets feathering in these areas is well advanced.
f. Wing bows – In the cockerel the wing bows are bare, in pullets the wing bows are covered with small feathers.​

 

[M To The Maxx]

 

[b.hromada]

Hey there Becky and Nolan!

from S. Florida! Its great to have you here with us!

Enjoy!